Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

Sadly, the forces of special interests have overtaken our democracy. These are pacts of corporations, organizations and individuals who have figured out that lots of money can purchase power, such as political positions in government. Our own elected leaders only are because they have been able to surf such waves of money into office. They themselves are constructs of such pacts and beholden to their benefactors, as if they themselves are political operatives doing the bidding of such entities. In such a way democracy ceases and oligarchies rule in America. These pacts permeate the Democratic and Republican parties raising and throwing down political leaders through their various purchased outlets, including the biggest construct, the special interest conquest of the media. So it is that nothing is said freely and objectively, but is tightly controlled information disbursed under the close watch of nothing less than ‘overlords’ whom ensure that the special interest pact mess...

updated 9:48 am 4/7/17 Yesterday I entered a level four maximum security jail. I had a volunteer interview with the chaplain there. I saw no inmates and only entered into the administrative section of the jail to have a conversation with the chaplain on my social enterprise proposal. We discussed the viability of a key component of my proposal, that of physically revitalizing the Bridgeport, Ct. playgrounds after a collaborative grant search and acquisition of funds to purchase new equipment, along with any possible training needed for the first round of inmates I would theoretically be working with. The idea is to have the men give back to the community and to themselves by beautifying the communal environment of the city and therein, through their work, that they do ‘soul work’ in the process of the physical exertion and mission of the endeavor. To this the chaplain let me down gently, explaining that though my proposal was a good one, given the security level of the jai...

Steve Jobs Could a company like Apple see the global need to use our imaginations to empower the individual social entrepreneur with practical technology to run their enterprise? Can it warehouse this technology in one place? Time and money are important components to any kind of entrepreneur and bringing in accommodations and modifications to how work is conducted is always entertained. Can a social entrepreneur cloud platform be created to this end? Would industries and individuals see the relevancy in helping generations of people who want to be socially responsible make a living using such a platform to achieve their community goals? Building people up with education so that they can compete for the jobs of tomorrow sounds great, but how about we create the  environment to build people up with education and access to tools that can create the jobs of tomorrow? Does integrating social good with business a creates social entrepreneurship dynamic which ultimately benefi...

Tio Enrique, went back almost two decades ago and brought back pictures... Mami, as her grandchildren call our graceful, humble and classy artist grandmother said,  "Ay! Los mumbles son los mismos mio. No los han cambiado!" My cousin, my sister & a stowaway (lols)  Two families had been living in our family home. She left  Miramar, Cuba in the heart of La Habana in 1959 never to return. My cousin, Enrique Alfredo and my youngest sister, Giselle,  went back about a year and half ago and walked into my families former home cataloging it and bringing back a treasure trove of nostalgia for the rest of the family to see. The families living in the home were gracious enough to allow this. Everything is run down in an elegant way. The people living there there have done what they can with the means they have had.  People do what they can to get by. Enrique told me of the warped political science perspective of the taxi drivers which like the Chevro...

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Solomon in proverbs 25:11 #theBronx African, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Hatian, Irish & Italian Fordham University Caucasian and Asian #theBronx A melting pot filled with flavor and sazon Fordham University All salt and no pepper! ……… So goes my poem created yesterday at the White Castle on Holmes Street. Just yesterday I ventured in to technicolor borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is a fascinating land filled with action, sound and bustling. As many of us know, it has a beautiful botanical garden deep in its heart providing the opportunity of respite to all who want to move away from the concrete for a change. Past it is the door to its ‘downtown’ area with Fordham University’s sprawling campus which is also serene and expansive in its own right. It is Jesuit school like the one I graduated from, Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. I am we...

“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee to honour , when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine headman ornament of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.” Proverbs of Solomon 4:5-9 How do we change a culture to ensure that powerful forces are used benevolently to serve people and their communities?  What is might and strength good for if it is not used benevolently?  Can it become a hindrance if not used purposefully to do the will of nation-states and its peoples and to operate under God’s universal law written in our hearts to do that which is right and fair?  Surely, might and force has been used in ill-advised ways by individuals, organizatio...

Ideas like servant leadership when applied to activities that can develop physical health and cognitive development can become a catalyst for others once it is put into action in a consistent manner. To find such an activity that is engaging for people of all ages and still keep it local is hard. Dancing comes close, but we still don't have designated dancing areas at parks, so in the mean time, consider what skateboarding offers and how it is directly connected to Dr. Marting Luther King, Jr. An activity like skateboarding at a skatepark welcomes people from any nationality, ethnicity, or age and is a sport of growth and development for the brain and body when practiced consistently.  From an Special Educator standpoint, skateboarding also happens to be an excellent vehicle as an early intervention tool and strategy for the social-cognitive-physical development of children on the autism spectrum, ADHD, or any special need. Knowing this is not enough though....

At the skatepark yesterday, I picked up plastic bottles, beer bottles, beer caps, cigarette butts, abandoned clothes, pieces of broken skateboards, candy wrappers galore and lots of empty cheap cigar packets. I pick up broken glass, napkins, and even more plastic bottles. There seems to be no end in sight to the garbage in that area. Fresh garbage lands like breaking waves each day.  As I was doing this a skateboarder with a Martha’s Vineyard ‘Black Dog’  shirt came into the park and started practicing. He was stiffly working the smaller skate bowl. I could tell his board was brand new. In talking, Josh, a young black man, was very emphatic  several times on his strong desire to get really good at his jumps and tricks on the board. I said all the customary stuff we all know about what it takes to progress. “It just takes practice. Commitment.. and one day at a time you get better at it.” I’m no Tony Hawk by any stretch of the imagination, but I AM in the m...

Just yesterday I arrived at the skatepark to see that some kids had spray painted a wide swath of the 'street course' within the gates of the Scalzi skatepark. One of our top officers was there to witness it. He did not intervene. I am glad he did not. Later, when I arrived at the park right before a beautiful sunset, another one of our top officers told me that he'd love to use his give the amateur artists a good measure of his time, perhaps let them feel his skateboard. Immediately, I realized that things could get out of hand and derail our stride. I vocalized that we should not make ourselves targets of animosity. One of the officers, Cello, piped in that we we could hoist wood panels on the gates to create 'canvases' to channel the need of aspiring artists to still create, yet directing their 'art' to these panels. Brilliant I thought. Just brilliant!! That's Cello for you! "Lovingkindness fears not It holds its stance" You just...

If you’ve been to Scalzi Skatepark over the last few weeks and checked on the progress the local skaters are having in our revival campaign, you’d think that progress is slow, to nonexistent . Yet it if you would stay a while, meet the locals and chat with some of of them, you’d know different. We are moving forward at lightning speed! Faster than CERN can split particles actually and at no monetary cost to anyone! As I get word of new skate parks being planned in Fairfield County, the crew and I double our epic commitment to becoming the gems of the country as far as social responsibility goes from the bottom up!  Cello, a top officer and born leader and I are going to our second meeting with another city officer in Stamford to discuss and receive guidance on various new initiatives all aimed at the revitalization and establishment of Scalzi as THE flagship skatepark in the county.  In our multi-fasceted, multi-pronged campaign to reach various milestones,...

…and Ty gave me the word ..and it helped sustain my heart. There was little sleep. Constant discomfort and uncertainty I had. Yet, I read this word and it gave me some rest. …and my sisters.. and my mother..troubled and not knowing My pain was great and I hid it. “Only be strong and of a good courage” ..and I held back my tears in the daytime. Lovingkindness fears not It holds its stance sending ripples of energy hitting and disarming hearts long since drugged numb and my body was drained constantly and it was hard for me to breathe and i felt my energy leave me I found it hard to replenish it The fountain was being tapped by 244 souls ..and Pastor Pat, now my friend and who is no Pastor,  but a father of ten and a crack head said, ‘I need your soul!’ and they all gravitated to me eventually …and then I recalled my time in church when I was a boy how the energy was drained from me I had to sit outside the congrega...